ANC should bury its head in shame that Winnie was not president – EFF

In its official statement following the passing of struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have said that she is the “first black female president South Africa was deprived of”.

EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the party felt she had been suppressed by both white suppression and patriarchal attitudes.

“Mama Winnie Mandela is the stone that the builders rejected. She is the first black female president South Africa was deprived of. Her irreplaceable contribution to the liberation of our people was a subject of both Patriarchal and white minority suppression; her well deserved, tried and tested, rise into the highest seat in the country was only suppressed by the patriarchally dominated liberation movement and its complicity with white minority establishment. They hated her because she was a black woman with her own mind and who enjoyed the collective popular confidence of masses of our people. They hated her because she never compromised her message of radical black emancipation.”

They criticised the liberation movement led by the ANC.

“For denying us Winnie Mandela as the president of the Republic South Africa, the liberation movement must bury its head in shame in this painful hour of loss.

“There is no doubt that in the last two decades of the liberation struggle Winnie Mandela carried the revolutionary aspirations of black communities on her shoulders. When silence, despondency, fear and political apathy triumphed over the collective spirit of emancipation following the exile of the liberation movement and the imprisonment of its leadership. It is Winnie Mandela who exhumed this collective spirit, inspiring every street, every township, every village, every town, every city and every country in the world to brave the murderous apartheid regime and once more demand the unconditional freedom of a black child.

“From Soweto to Selma, London to Sidney [sic], scores of students, youth, workers and all peoples of the world joined the international anti-apartheid movement inspired by her tenacity, perseverance, bravery, daring and infectious love. From Morogoro to Lusaka many young men and women signed up in the ranks of Mkhonto WeSizwe inspired by her fighting spirit. She affirmed both the love and anger of black people; always committed to their right to defend their lives even in arms in the face of a deadly apartheid evil.

The party said that “in her name “we vow to accelerate and deepens [sic] the fight against patriarchy, within our own ranks and in society in general”.

He said that Madikizela-Mandela” believed in, encouraged and commended the EFF for declaring and pursuing” land expropriation.

“In her name we vow to bestow upon this land an era of economic freedom in our lifetime”.

EFF leader Julius Malema, who was very close to her, plans to visit her home in Soweto at noon to pay his respects.